I’ve said before that I get a lot of benefit from having my site up and sharing my thoughts. My Down, Down, Down journal entry was noticed and I received a ton of support from everyone. I have to say — it really helped me turn things around mentally. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for their encouragement. If this site inspires it is only because of the people who inspire me. If you are reading this now and you are a musician (pro or weekend warrior)… count yourself in that number. Again, many thanks to everyone who emailed me and told me to keep going. You know who you are…
As mentioned before I felt as if my practice sessions were too loose and not focused enough. I especially noticed that I wasn’t paying enough attention to my trumpet fundamentals. I revisited a book that I purchased a long time ago by Chase Sanborn called “Brass Tactics.” In it, Chase discusses the different aspects of playing trumpet. More important than that, he gives or describes exercises (in Arbans, Clarke, Schlossberg, etc) that address each aspect individually. Do you want more help? He even helps you devise a practice routine (dividing each area into groups) that hits all of these areas INCLUDING jazz studies. I re-read this book and for the past few days I’ve made a point of hitting each area of he discusses. With his clear outline I always felt as if I accomplished something when I put the horn down.
The funny thing? My teacher already gave me these areas but in my frustration I think I strayed from them. I still feel as if I need to increase my lesson frequency. I also forget that even if I pick the horn up for 30 minutes spending 15 minutes warming up and 15 minutes FOCUSED on long tones or flow studies or articulation or scales — I’m getting the job done. While my sessions are almost always an hour and a half — if I stay focused on a particular goal during each segment, my time is better spent.
For my jazz practice I got great advice from a trumpet player named Graham Breedlove. He is an amazing player with a great album out called Coming Home. I will definitely share my thoughts on that after I do a few more Kenny Dorham albums. Rather than trying to explain what he told me I just snatched a paragraph from his email. Hopefully he does not mind me sharing with the rest of the web community…
“It sounds like you’re playing a lot, but not necessarily practicing a lot. If you feel like you’re playing the same phrases over and over, then you’re staying inside your “comfort zone”. The only way to expand your comfort zone is to step outside it regularly!”
This was fantastic advice and it reminds me that all practice (including jazz) is about addressing PROBLEMS. Not playing “Freddie Freeloader” or my C major scale in modes because I have a decent handle on it.
Click here to listen to a short clip of Blue Bossa. I made a point during this solo to stay close to the melody – something I don’t do often.